No respite for social services

The campaign in Swansea to hold onto respite care services for the elderly seems to be gaining slow but discernible momentum. Several non-political luminaries, who have family members that use or have stayed at the threatened Earlsmoor centre, are said to be backing moves to force a re-think.

Campaigners are also running with the damaging allegation that the £5.6 million recently announced by Swansea Council for more child care teams is not actually new money. The improvements, demanded by a WAG intervention team parachuted in to tackle failing childrens services, are said to be funded by cuts to services for the elderly - which includes the closure and sell-off of the Earlsmoor site. According to Assembly sources, these claims of creative financing will be raised during a forthcoming debate on public finance rules.

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The same sources hint that another shit-tsunami may be heading towards the city’s social services. The rumblings are that reports on failed cases will put both departmental and political leadership abilities into serious question yet again.

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(JX)