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Social care cuts ruling expected
2011-05-19 11:45:07
19 May 2011 Last updated at 17:27 Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Birmingham City Council care funding cuts unlawful
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//Conservative leader Mike Whitby said the ruling should not affect Birmingham City Council's budget
Its head of legal services Kari Gerstheimer said other councils in England and Wales may be considering making similar cuts to social care.
"We hope that this judgement sends a very strong message to those councils, that we are in a climate of cuts.
"But even in a climate of cuts there are choices to be made and a civilised society does not choose to cut services to people with the greatest need - that's disabled people."
Previously the council said it had identified £118m worth of cuts by 2014-15 from its adult and communities directorate and needed to save £308m in total in the next four years due to the central government cuts outlined in the Spending Review.
It said only people whose needs were judged to be "critical" would qualify for council-funded care. Following the Adult social care judicial review on Thursday, the council said it would revise its plans and re-run the public consultation.
A council spokesman added: "It is important to point out that Mr Justice Walker has said that we were considerate and thoughtful of disabled people, in making our new offer, that our consultation was extensive but that it needed to be fully informed by impact assessment."