The Director of Community and Housing, Simon Williams, introduced the report. He drew the Panel’s attention to a matter of accuracy, that the petition had been organised by a collection of local people and not by Merton Centre for Independent Living as stated in the report. He also reported that a further 28 signatures had been added to the petition since it was formally handed to him on 2 February, and he drew the Panel’s attention to the actual petition on the table which was there to read.

Simon Williams said that a summary of responses was set out on the report. He recognised that the savings proposals were difficult and may have a profound impact on peoples’ lives and he thanked the respondents for having been so courteous and constructive. He said that feedback on the equality impact assessment had been taken on board and a revised equality impact assessment had been tabled at this meeting and would be presented to Cabinet at its meeting on 16 February.

Simon Williams said that comments regarding the consultation process had been helpful and he would make sure that future consultations had wider time frames if at all possible and would relate to the budget setting timetable.

The Chair invited two speakers to make comments on the adult social care consultation results:

Roy Benjamin, a local resident

Roy Benjamin expressed concern that undue weight had been attached to financial considerations and not enough to the impact that the proposals would have on peoples’ lives. He cited other services on which the council was proposing to spend money and said that some of these, such as a new swimming pool, would be inaccessible to disabled people if their care budgets were cut.

Roy Benjamin asked that the adult social care savings be considered in relation to alternative savings that the council could make. He stressed that the impact of cuts to care budgets would leave people isolated at home, becoming depressed and possibly suicidal.

LylaAdwan-Kamara, Manager, Merton Centre for Independent Living

LylaAdwan-Kamara said that nearly 700 people had participated in the consultation (including those who signed the petition). She urged the Panel to listen to the views expressed and engage in open dialogue regarding these.

LylaAdwan-Kamara said that respondents saw the proposals as a moral issue, were accusing the council of prioritising other services and failing to understand the likely impact or the difficulties already faced by service users. She said that the proposals were likely to reduce independence, reduce wellbeing and increase isolation and were therefore contrary to the July principles. She cited the annual residents survey results as further evidence that the council is failing disabled people.

LylaAdwan-Kamara added that Merton CIL had worked hard to engage with officers and councillors and would like to continue with a more open dialogue.

In discussion, all members thanked the speakers and expressed concern about the impact that the proposed savings may have on disabled people, including social isolation, increased burden on carers and entry to residential care at an earlier stage.

Councillors Brian Lewis-Lavender, Suzanne Grocott and Abdul Latif urged Cabinet to reconsider and to postpone or identify alternative savings from elsewhere in the council’s budget, such as reserves or corporate provisions.  A motion was proposed and seconded to request Cabinet to withdraw savings proposal C13 in the light of the results of the recent consultation. A vote was taken – 3 members voted in favour and 5 against – and the motion fell.

Councillors Sally Kenny, Pauline Cowper and Brenda Fraser said that they were troubled by the savings proposal, that they had been listening and talking to residents and would prefer not to make cuts but were constrained by the legal requirement to balance the council’s budget.

Co-opted member, Myrtle Agutter said that older people had not been sufficiently consulted and there had been no effort to reach older peoples’ groups, therefore the results do not reflect their strength of feeling. She said that these are severe and savage cuts and she urged Cabinet to reconsider.

Co-opted member Saleem Sheikh added that he could see that Cabinet was in a difficult position and asked whether there was any leeway.

In response to questions about how the Better Care Fund would impact locally, the Director of Community and Housing said that the overall fund for Merton was  £12m, much of which  had to be mainly used for schemes that would benefit the NHS. Around £6m would be used to protect adult social care services, which is a wide definition and includes the need to spend new money on functions such as the Care Act and 7 day working. Much of this is from consolidating existing budgets so that the real impact in 2015/16 would be an additional £1.6m, which has already been taken into account in drawing up the savings proposals.

The Chair said that he had been involved in discussions to protect the most vulnerable people and to prioritise the needs of older and disabled people and children. He expressed regret at having to make these savings and reminded the Panel that not increasing council tax had been an election pledge.

The Panel RESOLVED to make the notes of its meeting available to Cabinet through a reference to its meeting on 16 February 2015.