By Stephen Topping
A council-owned company could be set up to protect social care services in Crewe and Nantwich from further cuts.
Care4CE, Cheshire East Council’s provider of adult social care services, has been slashed in size over the past nine years from a workforce of 1,500 to fewer than 700 – while some services are no longer offered.
Cheshire East Council is to spend an extra £10.9 million on adult social care in 2018/19 as it bids to tackle a growing demand in the borough.
The authority’s Cabinet, facing reductions in government grants, rising costs and increased demand, has backed proposals to recommission care at home, residential care and respite care.
Over 85s living alone in Nantwich will get free telecare support while others could see charges for social care packages reduced, Cheshire East Council says.
Care charges and services were reviewed following a public consultation earlier this year under the new Care Act.
A Nantwich respite centre providing adult care could still be closed by Cheshire East Council. This is despite people calling for continued respite or short break provision in Crewe and Nantwich under a three-month consultation.
Cheshire East Council has defended allegations it charges the highest hourly rate for social care in the UK at £20.34. The authoritycovering Nantwich and Crewe was highlighted in a BBC report comparing cost of caring for the elderly and infirm.
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