MP calls for more care cash in county
A Shropshire MP has challenged the Government to make more money available to care for the county's elderly
Daniel Kawczynski questioned Communities and Local Government Secretary James Brokenshire about funding for rural counties during a debate in the Commons this week.
Mr Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, said Shropshire Council needed more help from the Government to cope with the soaring cost of adult social care.
He said: "Will the Secretary of State acknowledge that in counties such as Shropshire, where our elderly population is growing at a disproportionate rate compared with the rest of the country, adult social care costs are going up very quickly?
"What steps is he going to take with the Treasury to ensure that more money is provided to enable rural shire counties such as Shropshire to deal adequately with adult social care costs?"
Mr Brokenshire said the Government had made an extra £650 million available to local government for social care over the present financial year.
He told Mr Kawczynski that the Government was reviewing the mechanism for distributing funding to different local authorities, and the issues he raised were being taken into consideration.
"He highlights some of the differentials around rural services, and as part of our fair funding review, we want to ensure that that is properly captured," Mr Brokenshire said.
In March, Shropshire Council leader Councillor Peter Nutting said adult social care was costing the authority an extra £8-10 million a year.
Announcing a £2.9 million cut to social care funding in the council's annual budget, Councillor Nutting called on MPs in the county to fight for more money.
He said: "We have pushed the MPs to push in parliament and they have done but I would like to see them up the ante to help us get more money.”
However, NHS England reported earlier this month that the number of patients forced to stay in hospital because of a shortage of care places had fallen in the county over the past three years.
The figures showed the number of delayed discharges had fallen form 39.7 per day in 2016/7 to 10.4 per day in 2018/9.
