More action to help older people stay in their own homes and to support people with learning and physical disabilities is being suggested in a £2m boost to City of York Council's social services budget.

Out of the proposed £2m extra for social services, officers are suggesting nearly £600,000 should be spent on new services reflecting extra demand and changed needs as well as suggesting the council sets aside nearly £2m as a contingency fund to meet unpredictable new challenges throughout the 2003/2004 council year.

Councillor Viv Kind, the council's executive member for social services, and members of the council's cross-party Social Services Advisory Panel are being asked to consider the £34m budget - which also includes some £500,000 in savings - at meetings next Wednesday (January 15).

Many of the savings will be achieved by the council taking advantage of new funding sources.

In terms of funding growth and new services, officers are proposing to boost the budget for additional residential and nursing home placements by £71,000 next year - providing an extra 13 places to drive down the number of delayed hospital discharges. Some £25,000 would also be spent on better managing the situation to meet new government deadlines.

A ground-breaking, £99,000 new service in partnership with the Selby and York Primary Care Trust to provide personal care visits to customers at home in the evening and throughout the night, is also included in the budget.

The council and PCT's Total Care Scheme is also being expanded with £150,000 to meet rising costs and demand and some 43 new home care packages - allowing older people to remain in their own homes - is also on the cards at a cost of £75,000. The budget proposal also includes £107,000 for greater residential and community support for people with learning and physical difficulties.

Officers are also suggesting the council earmarks £1.8m in its central contingency fund for social services demands which are extremely difficult to predict.

The cash would fund extra residential and nursing care places to tackle any unpredicted delays in hospital discharges; increases in fees for home care and residential and nursing homes; intensive learning disabilities placements; and meeting government fines set to be imposed on local authorities if they fail to meet stringent new targets for tackling delayed discharge from hospitals.

Councillor Kind said, "This budget will help the council build on its long-standing commitment to helping people continue to live in their own homes when they want to rather than necessarily go into nursing or residential homes.

"We are also aiming to provide more specialist residential care and this, in turn, should help free up places in homes and help tackle the issue of delayed discharge from hospitals.

"This is a national concern but we are continuing to take it seriously in York and want to channel more resources into tackling it. This budget also reaffirms our commitment to supporting people of all ages with disabilities, supporting highly-valued voluntary sector services, funding the council's family centres and giving grants to voluntary groups."

The council is currently continuing its consultation process over the new budget. The consultation features a survey of residents on the council's 'people's panel', meetings with representatives of the business community and the city's 'Without Walls' local strategic partnership.

Most local ward committee meetings are also being held this month where budget issues will be listed for discussion.

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