COUNCIL leaders are urging residents to give their feedback on savings proposals that would affect social care services.

East Sussex County Council’s Cabinet agreed last week to consult on savings proposals identified as part of work to address a £55 million funding gap in next year’s budget.

Feedback from the consultation will give councillors the information they will need to make any final decision about the savings proposals when they meet to consider them in February 2025.

Cllr Keith Glazier, leader of East Sussex County Council, said: “We have some extremely difficult choices to make, and we are having to carefully consider every possible option to address the significant shortfall we face next year.

“We have saved more than £140 million over the past decade, but with further reductions in funding, demand for services rising and an increase in costs – including an almost doubling of costs to provide children’s social care in just three years, we cannot continue to deliver services in the way we have been.

“We know that the services we are talking about offer support to vulnerable people and it is vital that councillors have all the information they need to make difficult decisions when setting the budget for 2025/26, and that includes fully understanding the impact that any savings will have.

“It’s important to stress that we will continue to help everyone entitled to support under the Care Act, which is a legal duty for all councils.”

Current savings and re-configuring proposals include the closure of two day services for older people and two day centres, community support services and Steps to Work training for people with learning disabilities. There are also proposals to stop on-site support in supported accommodation for vulnerable adults and adults with mental health needs, significantly reducing funding for housing-related support services and not renew contracts for drug and alcohol recovery services.

Consultations on eleven service changes will run from Thursday, October 3 to Thursday, November 28, with feedback being analysed in a report that will be shared with all councillors before decisions are made.

A consultation into the introduction of a booking system at Household Waste Recycling Sites will launch shortly, and further saving proposals will be identified in the coming months.

Cllr Glazier added: “We have already taken steps to reduce spending where we can including cutting day to day spending, carefully considering recruitment to vacant posts, reducing office space, and working with partners to deliver services, but these measures alone are not enough to close the funding gap.

“We are also urgently pressing Government and our local MPS for a fairer and more sustainable deal for East Sussex that recognises the unique challenges we face as a county.”

Details about the consultations can be found on East Sussex County Council’s consultation pages.

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