Council to cut £8m from social care budget

Funding for social care services at Edinburgh Council will be cut by nearly £8m over the next three years.

The council’s health and social care, and children and families departments will be hardest hit by the first round of cuts, which are expected to save a total of £90m in the same period.

Those services are expected to make up nearly half of the first round of £16m savings, with the children and families department losing £2.4m from its budget, and health and social care £5.5m.

Edinburgh Council insists that frontline services will not be cut under the proposals, but up to 300 management and “backroom” posts across the council could be axed.

The number of managers in the main children’s and families office could be cut by half, according to children and families director Gillian Tee.

“All departments are looking at management savings of 12%,” she said at a meeting of the council’s policy and strategy committee.

Most of the cuts will be made by reducing temporary staff, leaving vacancies unfilled, early retirement, voluntary redundancy and redeployment to vacant posts. However, the council has not ruled out compulsory redundancies.

“The harsh reality of the UK budget deficit requires us to confront some very difficult decisions,” said council leader Jenny Dawe last month.

“We will do all we can to support staff and to protect the valued and vital services they deliver for the people of Edinburgh.”

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