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Better Health and Social Care
Councils will see their grant funding from the Tory-led government reduce by a
staggering £16 billion between 2010 and 2020. Councils face a funding gap of £5.8
billion by 2020, with at least £1 billion of this related to adult social care.
The consequences of chronic underfunding in social care has created an
increasingly insecure provider market, growing unmet need, further strain on informal
carers, less investment in prevention, continued pressure on a care workforce at
breaking point, meaning that social care will struggle to reduce pressure on the NHS.
The City Council under Labour has done its utmost to protect vulnerable adults, and
despite crippling cutbacks, the City Council in 2016/17 was able to provide longterm
care to 2,780 adult social care clients (costing around £61 million) including:
1,470 people with physical disability/mobility support needs/ sensory
impairment (£25.5 million)
580 people with learning disabilities (£21.5 million)
315 people with memory or cognition support needs/dementia (£10 million)
350 people with mental health issues (£4.25 million)
Looking ahead, Labour plans to consult widely with disabled people and their
organisations, carers and service users about the Government’s much-delayed
proposals for long term funding for adult social care which is now expected in a
‘Green Paper’ in Summer 2018.
We will use our public health budget to reduce the number of people admitted to
hospital from preventable conditions and continue to reduce the number of
delayed transfers of care, working with valued partners in NHS. At a community and
neighbourhood level, Labour work with our local NHS to establish integrated primary
care hubs in Shirley and Bitterne.
Safer Communities
Since the Tories came to power, our police service has seen big cuts in frontline staff.
Hampshire’s police are dangerously understaffed, overworked and overstretched
and communities are becoming less safe as a result. Between 2012 and 2016,
Hampshire Constabulary lost almost 1,000 police staff including 551 frontline officers.
Hampshire Police have been forced to cut £82 million (24%) from their annual
budget since 2010 with a further £25 million demanded by the government over the
next four years. As a direct result, crime has started to rise.
In 2016/17 Southampton police recorded 30,728 crimes – a significant increase on
the previous year. Southampton, along with Portsmouth, have the highest recorded
crime rate amongst its 15 comparator areas with 120 crimes per 1,000 population,
compared to 73 for England.
Labour in Southampton will make best use of its position on the Hampshire & Isle of
Wight police and crime panel to help secure a fairer share of the financial resources
from Government for the county’s police force whilst also pressing home the case
for more action in Southampton on neighbourhood crime, road safety, antisocial
behaviour and youth programmes.
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