Reading West MP, Martin Salter, this week highlighted the lack of social care for many elderly and vulnerable people in Wokingham and West Berkshire at Prime Minister’s Question Time (Wednesday 21^st May). The Prime Minister confirmed that while the government provided the funding for social care, it was the choice of individual councils to deny care to all but those in ‘critical’ need. Gordon Brown pledged to look ‘week in, week out’ at how Conservative councils such as Wokingham and West Berkshire are ‘serving the needs of the elderly in their areas’.

Mr Salter asked:

“Has the Prime Minister had an opportunity to examine the surveys, by Mencap and others, that highlight the huge variation among different local authorities in the levels of social care for elderly and vulnerable people that they provide? Does he share my concern that it is mainly Conservative authorities, including Wokingham and West Berkshire, that are refusing to support vulnerable people at substantial or moderate risk? Does that not speak volumes about the callous face of Cameron’s Conservatives?”

The Prime Minister answered:

“We have set aside a 45 per cent. increase in resources for social care up to 2011. Many of these decisions have to be made by local authorities, to implement the spending allocated by the Government. We will be looking week in, week out, at what Conservative councils are doing. We will be looking at what they are doing in practice and in action and at whether they are serving the needs of elderly people in their areas.”

Mr Salter’s question followed a recent survey on social care by the charity MENCAP which singled out only four English councils for special criticism. Two of the four were Tory-controlled Wokingham and West Berkshire which only provide social care services for those with a critical need - this means that social services in those areas may not support people even in situations where ‘abuse or neglect has occurred’ or where the person ‘cannot carry out the majority of their personal care or domestic routines and there is no-one available to provide the help needed’. In Reading similar cuts would result in more than 1700 people being removed from the social services register.

Speaking after Prime Minister’s Questions Mr Salter said:

“I am deeply concerned about the lack of support offered to constituents of mine who fall under the authority of West Berkshire Council. The Mencap survey shows that Conservative councils across the country are leaving the most vulnerable people without support to carry out their personal care, taking away their dignity, and quality of life.”

Labour’s Prospective Parliamentary candidate for Reading East Anneliese Dodds added:

“I am pleased that Martin took the opportunity to raise this crucial issue with the Prime Minister, and I hope that the media attention on the behaviour of councils such as Wokingham will lead them to change their disgraceful policy on providing social care. It has been noticeable that the Reading East Tory MP has been silent on this issue. Perhaps Mr Wilson is more interested in protecting the party political interests of his Tory councillor colleagues in Wokingham rather than protecting the interests of his elderly constituents?”