Labour Lambeth - a care free zone

12.06.06pm GMT Tue 23rd Jan 2007

If you're old, sick or vulnerable in Labour-run Lambeth, you'll have to fend for yourself.

That's the startling conclusion that many have come to as a result of swingeing attacks on budgets for some of the most vulnerable people in the borough.

In one of the most shocking changes homecare charges will rocket from £7.55 per hour to a whopping £17.50 per hour. Yet Lambeth Council only pays £13 per hour to private service providers, which actually means that Labour politicians actually want to make a profit out of care to the poor and needy. As if this was not bad enough, the charges are expected to rise further later to £22 per hour.

These home care services are a vital lifeline to frail and elderly citizens allowing them to live independently at home. Sometimes these carers are the only human contact they see and they carry out essential tasks like help getting out of bed, dressing and shopping that more able-bodied people take for granted.

Without these services, many people would see a decline in their health and probably end up in hospital or other forms of institutional care.

Liberal Democrats say this is an attack on the most vulnerable members in our society.

Further draconian measures announced by Lambeth Labour include across-the-board cuts for grants to the voluntary sector. This crude accountancy measure may well have the effect of making a number of key voluntary sector services unviable.

And Labour also wants to raise the bar for eligibility to care services massively. Now only those considered 'critical' will even be eligible for a care service from Labour Councillors who voted themselves massive pay increases recently. What's more, no other London borough currently operates such a harsh Dickensian regime, and only three other councils in the country do so.

As if this was not enough, respite for carers of sick and disabled residents is being slashed and the number of residential placements for drug rehabilitation is again being reduced.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Adult Care, Cllr Rob Banks, said, "This is an utter disgrace. Labour councillors who cared so much for themselves that they voted through massive pay rises should think about the services that are being slashed to pay for them. This is nothing less than robbing the poor to pay the rich."

Cllr Banks added, "Many people in Lambeth will be wondering what on earth Labour stands for any more if it can abandon vulnerable people in their hour of need."