I HAVE written previously to express my concern that the age of austerity is far from over.

We have all seen the scale of cuts to public services in recent years with everything from schools, policing, the NHS and council services affected.

The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) has recently warned that the continued underfunding of adult social care continues to have a detrimental impact on the lives of millions of vulnerable people in the ongoing climate of austerity.

ADASS president Glen Garrod recently expressed concerns that austerity is reducing the amount of care and support provided to older and disabled people.

Mr Garrod has also highlighted the dangers of using social care as a pressure valve, simply to ease the burdens on the acute NHS.

The argument being that without adequate social care, vulnerable people will ultimately need more healthcare.

A recent survey found that Social Services directors have serious concerns about whether current funding levels will be enough for them to meet their legal duties and to provide the care and support that older and disabled people need.

The survey also found that on average each council will overspend their adult social care budget by almost £900,000 in 2018/19, a total of £136 million overall, due to chronic underinvestment in adult social care.

The Local Government Association, which represents local authorities, estimates that the gap in social care funding will increase to at least £2.6 billion unless there is urgent government action to inject more cash into the adult care sector.

Care companies and trade unions alike have expressed real concerns that social care continues to be underfunded.

Nadra Ahmed, of the National Care Association which represents many small and medium-sized independent care providers, has said “we are now beyond the crisis point.

We really are at the edge of the cliff now.

Bolton Unison has raised concerns that Bolton Council is now being expected to make a further £23.5 million cuts on top of £155 million made over the past eight years it seems hard to imagine that adult social care locally will be unaffected.

With so much political and media attention being focussed on Brexit at present I do worry that other important issues such as austerity and the impact of underfunding of support to some of the most vulnerable is being overlooked.

Joan Pritchard-Jones

Horwich