Concerns raised over Devon County Council adult social care amid £1m spending cut

Devon will continue to meet its legal obligations for vulnerable adults following concern about a £1 million reduction in spending by the county council.

The issue was raised at a cabinet meeting on Monday [27 September] in an update about the council's continuing financial problems.

The council now predicts an overspend of £17 million this financial year, a figure that has been reduced by just under £19 million thanks to a 'financial sustainability programme' which includes some services being modernised, postponed or cut.

But finance chiefs warn the overspend could be further increased by "more than £10 million" because of inflation.

Discussing the budget update, the leader of the Labour group expressed concern about a £1 million reduction in the council's "offer to adults aged 18-65" included in a report detailing the savings.

"What exactly are we talking about here?" Councillor Carol Whitton (St David's and Haven Banks) asked. "Is this a reduction that will really harm our citizens, our residents? Is it a cost-saving measure that will not reduce services?

"That is my one area of real concern that we've actually reached the point where frontline services are suffering."

In response, cabinet member for finance Phil Twiss (Conservative, Feniton) said the council was looking at "reshaping how we provide those services to adults, so it's a more efficient and effective way of working."

"So I'd like to assure [Cllr Whitton], it's not a question of saying these people are abandoned, it's how we provide that service to them."

The council's integrated adult social care department is still forecasting an overspend of £3.2 million, even with the identified savings.

Councillor James McInnes (Conservative, Hatherleigh and Chagford), the cabinet member responsible, said: "This is not easy. This is going to be extremely difficult and what we're having to do in adult services, as well as right across the council, is actually look at how we're operating.

"Our key mantra in adult services is supporting independence. That has to be our key mantra because that's the best outcome for our residents.

"There are cases you can actually look at across Devon, like many councils, perhaps we over support people and we have to move from that to actually supporting independence and that's where this [£1 million] comes in.

Cllr McInnes added the council was "working on that detail now," going on to say: "Of course we will be meeting our statutory duties, etc.

"But traditionally [with] local government perhaps there has been, at times, a culture of over-cosseting and actually supporting independence wherever possible is a way of actually giving people a far better quality of life in the long run. And that's the work we're carrying out at the moment."

Devon's ruling cabinet noted the budget update, which concluded: "The good work underway must continue at pace and scale to ensure the authority is in the strongest position possible to continue to provide the best services we can within the resources available."