assessments, we have to prioritise." He went on: "We would like to provide a whole range of community based services. But the fact is that we haven't got enough resources and we are having to provide services for people in the most desperate situations."
Meanwhile cuts are still being made. Social service staff in Cambridgeshire are warning that another draconian round of cutbacks including the closure of two children's homes, cuts in day care for older people, unfilled vacancies and cuts in support costs could lead to a crisis. In the north east, Redcar and Cleveland council agreed a £2m cuts package including the closure of Mount Pleasant home for the elderly, cuts in respite care, by a caring, sharing council chief executive.
Peter Wilson, boss of Morpeth Council was called to cil refused to pay for the funeral of an elderly woman who Wilson's line was simple enough:
"Without wishing to appear insensitive, one could argue the waste produced by their business". understanding the popular revulsion at what he had said, rather than "principles".
THE BODIES of deceased elderly residents of a care home in Northumberland have been described as "waste products" account by the local government ombudsman after the coundied at a local residential home with just £450 to her name. that from a commercial viewpoint residents of a home are its income producing raw material. Ergo, from a purely commercial view, deceased residents may then be regarded as being After losing the case, Wilson appeared equally incapable of and complained that the focus had been on "emotive words"
IO SOCIALIST OUTLOOK ble", which was soon ready to